Various playback devices of the autochanger type have been proposed in which a plurality of disks are accommodated as positioned upright for playing black the desired disk. The present applicant also has already proposed the device shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 (see JP-A-195842/1994). In the following description, the direction in which the disk is inserted will be referred to as "front," and the direction of discharge of the disk toward the front panel as "rear. "
The illustrated device has a magazine 3 rotatably mounted on a chassis 2 for accommodating disks D. A disk insertion-discharge portion 4 and a playback portion 7 spaced apart from each other are arranged outside the path of rotation of the magazine 3. The magazine 3 is formed with 24 disk spaces 31 arranged radially for accommodating disks D as positioned upright. Roller units 6, 60 for holding and transporting the disk are provided inside the insertion-discharge portion 4 and between the playback portion 7 and the magazine 3.
A front panel 20 provided at the front side of the chassis 2 has a vertically elongated opening 41, which is provided with a rotary shutter 40. The shutter is opened by a rotating mechanism (not shown) for the insertion or discharge of the disk.
When to be placed into the magazine 3, the disk D is inserted through the opening 41 of the rotary shutter 40. The disk D is held by the roller unit 6 and transported thereby into the magazine 3.
When placed into the magazine 3, the disk D fits into a holding groove 39 in a bottom plate defining the spaces 31 as shown in FIG. 12. A kickout member 400 is slidably provided on the chassis 2 between the insertion-discharge portion 4 and the center of rotation of the magazine 3. Projecting from one end of the kickout member 400 is a pusher 410 which is movable into and out of the disk space 31 of the magazine 3.
When no disk is inserted into the magazine 3, the pusher 410 is positioned in the disk holding groove 31 as indicated in solid line in FIG. 12, preventing the magazine 3 from rotating inadvertently. When the magazine 3 is to be rotated, the kickout member 400 is slidingly moved toward the center of the magazine 3 to retract the pusher 410 from the interior space of the magazine 3 as indicated in solid line in FIG. 12. The magazine 3 rotates without being blocked by the pusher 410.
However, the device described has the following problems.
If the main body 100 of the device is installed as tilted, the disk D will not be loaded into the magazine 3 properly but is likely to be positioned as partly projected from the inner or outer periphery of the magazine 3 as shown in FIG. 10 (a) or 10 (b) to hold the magazine 3 at rest. When the magazine 3 is rotated in this state, the disk D is likely to become damaged by being caught by the roller unit 6 or 60 or other guide member.
Furthermore, the playback portion 7 is disposed outside the magazine 3 and therefore inevitably makes the device main body 100 greater in size.
In view of the need to compact the device main body 100, the present applicant has proposed an arrangement wherein the playback portion 7 is disposed inside the magazine 3, and the opening 41 of the main body 100 and the playback portion 7 are positioned in alignment with the path of transport of the disk, with the magazine interposed between the opening and the playback portion.
With this arrangement, the roller units 6, 60 need to be arranged between the playback portion 7 and the magazine 3, and between the magazine 3 and the opening 41, respectively. The present applicant has conceived the idea that if the roller units 6, 60 are made rotatable in directions opposite to each other and when the roller units 6, 60 are rotated in directions to draw the disk into the magazine 3, the disk, even if initially projecting from the magazine 3, can be reliably accommodated in the magazine 3, consequently rendering the magazine 3 rotatable free of any trouble.